The Smoke That Thunders

The African name for Victoria Falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya which, in English, translates into "the smoke that thunders." It seems like a much more applicable name for such an impressive monument to nature than the name of a fat English queen who never set foot anywhere near the Falls.

I have been to Vic Falls (the one advantage of this name is that it is slightly shorter) three times now. The first time was in October. I probably wrote an article about it at that time but I can summarize it by saying that I was taken by its breathtaking height. There was almost no water in it then as it was the height of the dry season so we were able to walk right across the top of what is now surging river water. Then we returned in December. By this point there was a little more flow and you could feel the mist on your face from the other side of the canyon. I guess you could call this "medium flow."

On this trip, however, the Falls were at their most spectacular state, the peak of water flow. The river is over a kilometer wide at this point and the entire mass of it plummets down immense cliffs. The resulting mist and spray not only soaked us as we stood across the gorge from the Falls but also could be seen from Livingstone, several kilometers away. It felt like one was standing in a cloud with the mist shrouding much of what you could see in most directions.

I think probably every foreigner who has ever set foot in Zambia has made their way to Victoria Falls. Far fewer Zambians have seen their natural wonder, although there seemed to be a fair number of them when we were there. If you ask around in Lusaka, though, you won't find many people who have been there and I'm sure the same could be said for the rest of the country. Foreigners, including myself, have a passionate desire to get there because it is the one internationally recognize tourist attraction in the country. Locals, aren't quite so keen. I asked a friend if he would like to see the Falls some day. He said maybe he would but that he had already seen them on TV many times so wasn't all that interested. Don't know if this is indicative of wider opinions, or if it is just that most Zambians don't have the money to travel to see them (this is probably the major reason) but they certainly seem to be less of a deal for Zambians than they are for me.

Nonetheless, the Falls leave no doubt that they are one of the seven natural wonders of the world and it has been great to see them at these three stages of water flow.